The VP of the Jewish People Policy Institute weighs in
Utah Weddings - Potential Breakthrough
In a precedent-setting decision, the Lod District Court ruled earlier this month that civil marriages performed via Zoom under foreign auspices for couples in Israel will be inscribed in Israel’s Population Registry.
01/08/2022 22:52
Tags: Utah marriage · Legal advocacy
In our last newsletter, we wrote about the landmark ruling on Utah marriage. In the past we have written more than once that Hiddush’s initiative and extensive legal action on this issue represent a real potential breakthrough. It is clear to us that not everyone was convinced or understood the importance of this move. That is why we were glad to read the analysis which was published a few days ago in the Jerusalem Post by Dr. Shuki Friedman, vice president of the Jewish People Policy Institute.
Here are a few of the things that Dr. Friedman wrote following the ruling:
“In a precedent-setting decision, the Lod District Court ruled earlier this month that civil marriages performed via Zoom under foreign auspices for couples in Israel will be inscribed in Israel’s Population Registry. If the ruling stands, it will have dramatic repercussions for thousands of couples. And because the issue lies at the heart of the religion and state conflict in Israel, it will undoubtedly feature prominently in the country’s upcoming elections…
Even after 75 years of statehood, marriages are still performed solely in accordance with Jewish law, or the traditions of other faiths. This deprives those who cannot get married in a religious framework – because they are psulei chitun (disqualified for marriage under Jewish law), same-sex couples, or do not wish to marry in such a framework – of the right of matrimony in Israel.
The Lod District Court ruling changes things significantly, as it permits foreign-conducted online marriage ceremonies without ever having to step off of Israeli soil. Although the ruling does not actually create a path to civil marriage in Israel, it does resolve the practical difficulty of getting married here in a civil ceremony.
Up until now, such couples have been forced to fly to another country, marry there, and then, upon their return to Israel, register as married couples in the Population Registry.
The Lod District Court ruling changes things significantly, as it permits foreign-conducted online marriage ceremonies without ever having to step off of Israeli soil. Although the ruling does not actually create a path to civil marriage in Israel, it does resolve the practical difficulty of getting married here in a civil ceremony. …the ruling far from satisfies the demand for recognition of civil marriage in Israel, in all its declarative and ideological aspects. But de facto civil marriage on Israeli soil is an immediate and feasible solution for tens of thousands of couples who cannot or do not wish to marry via the Rabbinate without having to leave the country.”
We could not agree more with Dr. Friedman. The Utah marriage platform is not ideal, but it constitutes important and dramatic progress in comparison with the existing reality. A true and complete solution will occur only when Israelis and the Jewish leadership that supports Israel increase pressure on politicians to enact freedom of marriage in Israel, as is taken for granted in any other enlightened democracy in the world. Realistically, when taken into consideration what we wrote in the editorial above, it is doubtful whether this is about to happen under the next government. For thousands of Israelis each year, the Utah marriage platform offers an option of getting married quickly, cheaply, accessibly and in a manner that will allow them to combine the registration of this marriage in the population registry, along with celebrating a meaningful marriage ceremony, whether orthodox, egalitarian, liberal or secular, with their family and friends (even if is still formally unrecognized by the State).
See, for example, the photo above, showing MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv conducting a marriage ceremony for an Israeli couple. Many in Israel would prefer to be married this way [or by other reform, conservative, other non-Orthodox or egalitarian Orthodox and secular wedding officiants], but today this choice has no legal validity and does not allow them to be registered as married. The landmark ruling of the Administrative Court in Lod, if the State of Israel does not appeal it, will allow thousands of couples annually to choose the best of both worlds: civil marriage registration without leaving the country, along with a marriage ceremony that reflects their beliefs and free choice. Even if an appeal is filed by the State, the Supreme Court will hopefully turn it down, since it has consistently approved civil marriages abroad for decades despite the Ministry of the Interior's attempts to block this path.